


A Lullaby And Another Night

by Cannellia



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Based on Calamari, Bill is sad, Dipper cares, Fluff, I can't do summaries but it's ok i guess, I'll start taking prompts, It's based on another fic, M/M, Mute siren Bill, My First AO3 Post, Not based on my work, Pirate Dipper, Really just sad and fluff, Siren Bill, This was supposed to be a one shot but you know what here we go, i can't believe i'm posting this, i was emotional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 08:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6147754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cannellia/pseuds/Cannellia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bill Cipher is a mute siren, Dipper is the pirate who has to take care of him after his captain rescued him from a circus. These are short drabbles based on the fic Calamari!</p><p>(feel free to send me prompts on tumblr or in the comments)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Calamari](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5410865) by [Oilux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oilux/pseuds/Oilux). 



> THIS FIC HAD ME CRYING and so i wrote this

Stars were shining above the small ship, their light reflecting on the the sea waves. The whole crew of Gideon’s ship had gathered on the main deck, and the men were now almost all drunk and most of them were singing loudly. Earlier that day, they had taken down another ship, a spanish one, and after a long and exhausting fight they had managed to steal almost eveything without losing any crew member and with only a few injuries. The captain, after seeing the gold and alcohol that were now his, had allowed his men to celebrat before going back into his cabin.  
Dipper, though, wasn’t singing- not that he didn’t like to, but he didn’t feel like joining in the laughing men who were dancing, or trying to dance, in front of him. The day had been long, and to be completely honest he wasn’t entirely focused on his enemies during the fight. He was worried, dead worried, about the siren Gideon wanted him to take care of. He didn’t stop thinking once about what would happen if one of the men they were fighting entered his cabin and found the siren. They could kill it, or steal it, or badly injure it. Not only Gideon would have his head if that happened, but he would feel guilty. He was responsible of the creature, and without a voice it was unable to defend itself. Luckly for both of them, no one saw the siren and Dipper made it out of the fight with only a few cuts. He got yelled at for not focusing in the middle of such an important battle, but he was safe and that was the only inportant thing.  
  
He sighed and got on his feet, the loud noises producted by his shipmates starting to get on his nerves, making his head hurt a bit. He decided he would eat something in his cabin, and maybe bring something for the siren. It looked really unhealthy, and Dipper couldn’t help but feel pity everytime he saw the cheeks and ribs of the creature- and the scar on its throat. He couldn’t imagine what it went through, having its vocal cords brutally removed, and at the same time its only defense against men. A mute siren, out of the sea, couldn’t do much.  
  
He walked into the ship’s kitchen, grabbing bread and meat for himself, and a fish for the siren. Then he walked out, trying not to bump into any of his drunk mates. He looked at the fish in his hand and sighed once more. The siren had been very reluctant to eat at first, refusing the fish he gave and not even looking at him. Hunger finally decided it to eat, but he still felt like the creature didn’t like him. Why would it like him ? He took it from the circus it belonged to, only to keep it in his cabin just next to the sea it used to live in. That was cruel. But he couldn’t go against his captain’s orders.  
  
He stopped in front of his door. For all this time, he had been treating the siren like an animal, feeding it fishes and giving it orders like he would do with a dog. That, he thought, probably didn’t help the siren’s affection. He considered starting to talk to it like to another human, and decided that, after all, it was worth a shot. The creature had always been treated like a circus monster, and he knew that if it happened to _him_ he wouldn’t want his saviors to keep treating him like one. The siren was apparently male, at least that was what it looked like. Dipper decided he would treat him like another crew member, and see what would happen. If its- his –reactions didn’t change, at least Dipper would feel a little better for treating him like a human and not like some kind of pet he kept in his room.  
  
He entered his cabin, closing the door behind him.  
  
There wasn’t much light in the small room, the only source being the stars and a small candle next to his bed. But even with this, he could see the siren half-out of the water, facing the walls, turned in the direction of the crew’s loud singing. He seemed to be listening to the song, the fins replacing his ears twitching. He didn’t seem to notice Dipper.  
As he got closer, the young pirate saw the siren’s lips move. He realized he was forming the words he was hearing coming from the other side of the wall. Unable to sing, he couldn’t do anything but pretend, and mouth the words he couldn’t let out. Dipper’s heart clenched at the sight. He knew the creature couldn’t sing, he knew he couldn’t produce a sound, but it had never hit him as hard as it did at this very moment. Sirens were _made_ to sing, it was the very purpose of their existence. And seeing this mute siren silently forming words while his crew mates were laughing and singing loudly made him hurt.  
  
He placed his food on his bed, and walked towards the tank. He sat next to the siren, and whispered quietly, trying not to scare him :  
  
« Hey. »  
  
The creature jumped, and turned to face him. He looked surprised, angry, and Dipper thought he saw a light of sadness in his eyes. He closed his mouth, and sank back into the water.  
  
« I didn’t mean to startle you. » he continued. « I brought you fish, do you want it now ? »  
  
Blue eyes met his before looking at his hands and at what they were holding. Hesitant hands raised out of the water, not getting close enough to take the fish. The siren looked like he wasn’t sure if he could take the fish. Dipper smiled, and handed him the food, wiping his hands on his shirt to get rid of the strong smell.  
Watching the other man- or fish? -eat, Dipper got up, walked to his bed, and took a bite of bread before sitting on the floor again, back against the tank. He stared at the siren, chewing on his own food. Thinking about what he had witnessed a few minutes ago, he opened his mouth before he could stop himself from talking.  
  
« Do you… Miss singing ? »  
  
He heard a noise of splashing water. The siren was staring at him with wide eyes, mouth still covered in fish scales and blood. He wiped it, and stopped eating. Dipper asked once again, now curious.  
  
« Do you ? »  
  
The creature looked away.

  


~*~

  


Bill swallowed the fish he had still in his mouth before looking back at the man next to him. Did he miss singing ? Of course. Of course he did. He had spent his entire life singing, alone or with other sirens, that was everything he loved to do. That, until humans came, took him, and took his voice. Of course he missed singing. He was thinking about it everyday, and days like this, when he could hear humans sing without being able to even whisper, made him hate himself and his soundless voice more than ever.  
He nodded.  
  
The pirate had a strange look on his face. Bill hoped it wasn’t pity, he had had enough of it. But when the human spoke, his tone was more understanding than it was mocking.  
  
« I’m sorry you had to go through that. »  
  
Apologies. That was new. He was used to the human treating him like an inferior, feeding him and talking to him like he was a pet. But this ? He gave the man a surprised look. He was expecting laughs, maybe a « huh » or some fake words of comfort, but not that.  
  
« Do you miss hearing people, too ? »  
  
The question hit him like a punch in the stomach. Of course the human would have noticed- how he was listening to the crew singing, how he was so focused he didn’t even see him coming. Because he missed the sound of voices singing. He had heard nothing but yells, laughs, and mocks since he had been captured. Every little melody, even if it was from a drunk pirate crew, allowed him to forget about everything for a moment, and to think back about the time he spent with his colony. He missed them, so much. He missed singing, but he also missed hearing the other sirens’ voices.  
  
He nodded once more, and as he did so, he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Was he crying ? In front of the pirate ?  
  
He raised his hands to wipe his tears, but another hands reached his cheeks before he did.  
  
He stared at the human, who wiped the tears away before sitting back. He wanted to hiss, to bite, to show him he didn’t need his pity.  
  
But he didn’t.  
  
He couldn’t handle it anymore.  
  
Curling in his tank, he let the tears out, and everything else out with them. He was so tired of pretending nothing was getting to him, tired of playing strong when he just wanted to go home. He didn’t care about the human judging him anymore. He didn’t care about the human mocking him. He let out breathless sobs, tears falling into the water surrounding him. The questions and the songs had brought so many memories back, just as he thought he had forgotten and given up on his past life. He wanted to be free, he wanted to go back into the sea, he wanted his voice back, he wanted to sing, and scream, and cry out instead of making these pathetics little whines. He was tired.  
  
When the pirate wrapped his arms around him, he didn’t push him away.  
  
Just for once, he felt like accepting the comfort the other had to offer. It didn’t matter if it was pity. It didn’t matter if the human mocked him after. He had missed the feeling of someone hugging him for too long to refuse it now.  
  
And when he heard the soft, hesitating and slightly shaky voice singing the first notes of a lullaby, he relaxed into the pirate’s arms and wrapped his own arms around his back.


	2. Cuddles In The Sunlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title : "how do you write cuddles"

The sunlight was pouring into the small bedroom, making the water Bill was sitting in grow slowly warmer. The siren had been quiet for a while, sometimes staring at the various drawings he had carved on the cabin’s wall. Everyday, he made more of them, and he was starting to worry he’d run out of space soon.

Dipper was a few feet away from him, on his bed, laying on his stomach. He was reading some kind of book, which probably came from the pile he had under his bed. Or maybe the one from his desk. Or was it the one next to the door ? He had too many books for the siren to understand. After all, Bill couldn’t even read. Sirens knew the human language perfectly, thanks to their songs, but singing it and reading it were two different things. Dipper was trying to teach him, though, and he could now understand a few words. He couldn’t read by himself yet, but he was hoping he was going to get better. Considering how alone he was in this small tank, with no hope to escape anytime soon, any distraction was more than welcome. And Dipper was happy to teach him. The young pirate had _beamed_ when Bill asked him to teach him more than the alphabet, and had immediately started to pick books from various corners of his room and to toss them on his bed. Since then, he took a different book every day and explained to Bill how words worked to form sentences on paper.

Turning away from his wall, Bill faced the human. He was smiling, messy brown hair falling on his face and chocolate eyes moving from on word to the next as he flipped through the pages of his book. He looked so passionate, he always did when he was reading. The siren smiled at the sight. He remembered times when Dipper would endlessly talk to him about books, wether it was about that one chapter or about how it ended. Because these conversations were mostly Dipper talking and him listening, he wished he would be able to read soon. He admitted he loved the way the human’s eyes were filled with stars when he talked about stories and mysteries.

Everything was peaceful. The only noises he could hear was the faint sound of the waves beneath the ship, and the pages Dipper turned as he read. Bill closed his eyes, appreciating the calm surrounding him. For once, he wasn’t worried about Gideon, he wasn’t worried about anything. It felt like he could stay like this for days, in silent, listening to the small noises his tank’s water made when he moved his tail or to the soft gasps and whispers Dipper made when he read. He sighed. If he still had a voice, he would have started humming.

He opened his eyes when he heard Dipper shifting on the bed. The pirate turned to face him, and waved at him with a small smile on his face. Bill smiled back and waved as well, before grinning and splashing water at the other. Drops of water fell on the floor and on the bed, some of them reaching Dipper. Surprised, the pirate put one arm in front of him, protecting himself from the attack. He glared at Bill, trying to look mad and failing miserably. He let him arm drop back on his lap, and giggled. He shook his head to get rid of the water, before sitting up on the sheets.

« Are you that bored, Bill ? »

Bill pouted. Dipper wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t exactly bored. He leaned on the glass of his tank, and signed :

« Yeah. »

He paused, before tapping the floor next to him and adding :

« Come ? »

Dipper tilted his head, placing his book on the bed.

« You want me to come sit with you ? »

Bill nodded vigorously, and Dipper stood up, walked towards Bill’s tank and sat next to it, resting his back against the glass. The siren hesitated before coming closer, wrapping his arms around the human and letting out a happy sigh when he felt how warm he was.

« Bill ! » Dipper laughed after jumping at the contact, « You’re going to ruin my clothes ! »

However, he didn’t make a move to push the siren away.

Bill leaned closer, resting his head on Dipper’s shoulder. The pirate let himself relax in the siren’s embrace, closing his eyes and appreciating the contact. For a moment neither of them moved, just feeling the sun on their skin and listening to the other’s breathe.

After a few minutes, Dipper whispered softly. « Think i should get up and keep reading.. ? »

Bill hugged him tighter.

« No. » He signed. « Stay. »

He looked at him with pleading eyes. It felt so nice having the other close enough to hold him, he didn’t want to let go so soon. The siren had been alone for so long. Being able to hug someone was something he had wanted too much.

« Please ? »

Dipper smiled, placing his hand on Bill’s. He held it gently, linking their fingers together.

« Of course.»

He turned to face the siren, finding themselves closer than he expected. The other’s face was only inches away from his. He could see every detail of it, the small yellow scales on his cheeks, the freckles… He felt himself blush, and noticed that Bill’s cheek were darker than usual, too. His freckles looked like they were glowing… But it could just be the sunlight.

Bill felt his heart starting to beat faster when Dipper held his hand, and his cheeks felt warmer when the human faced him.

Dipper raised his free hand, keeping the other on the siren’s. He cupped his cheek, and noticed it was slightly warmer than he remembered. Bill shuddered at the contact, before closing his eyes. He leaned into the touch, lips curling into a smile. At this very moment, his arms wrapped around Dipper, feeling his hand on his cheek, hearing no other sounds than their breaths and heartbeats…. At this very moment, for the first time in years, he felt home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might do a small sketch for this one. Yes. Yes i can see this happening.
> 
> Update : [i done did it](http://hydrachea.tumblr.com/post/140559602879/at-this-very-moment-for-the-first-time-in-years)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work, so i hope you guys liked it!


End file.
